Kaldi's

Kaldi's Coffeehouse on 9th street and Cherry.
I went into Kaldi's expecting another run of the mill coffee house with some quaint decor and a few homey touches but nothing really spectacular. However what I found was something totally different. The inside is "green" using recycled carpets and reusable everything, they're dedicated to the planet (and don't ever get sick of telling you haha). The surroundings are comfy with enough seating to accomidate the rather large lunchtime crowd, there is a lounge area with couches and a TV in the back, I didn't make it back there but it looked very cozy. Even thought this blog is about drinks and devoted to beverages, i feel i need to take time out to compliment the food at Kaldi's. WOW. They have a wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and other café fare for whatever you're in the mood for and it is fantastic. My favorite part however was the pita chips, they have freshly made baked pita chips that come out with your sandwich and they're to die for. They're nicely spiced with a good crunch and tons healthier then potato chips or any other kind of deep fried side that usually comes with sandwiches. Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can move on to the drinks. With a wide variety of coffee drinks, a nice selection of smoothies, teas, and sodas, Kaldi's provides a great selection of beverages. The coffee is tasty but ordinary and they've got a very large selection for you to choose from and an in-house grinder so you can take away freshly ground beans for your at-home enjoyment. Overall I found Kaldi's very pleasant and comfortable, however with this blog being about drinks I have to give it just an average grade in that department but if you're in the mood for café food, definatly head there. I'd give it a C for coffee and an A+ for food, so overall it felt more like a café/restaurant rather then a coffeehouse.